February 12, 2013

My love is like a red, red Redouté

In the few months that have passed since we published the famous flowers of
Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759-1840), I’ve enjoyed showing this unbound
book to customers and friends, untying the crème ribbon and folding open the
linen panels, then asking what they imagined it cost. Their estimates are
always higher—sometimes way higher—than our price, which makes me happy that
such a beautiful work of art is also such a great value.

Few things are more beautiful, or fleeting, or appreciated, than fresh
flowers. What human who has witnessed their beauty hasn’t wanted them to
last—hasn’t wanted them to stay as dewy fresh and magical as they are at their
glory?

Redouté may be the closest yet to answering that
wish—despite being 150+ years old. In our Redouté collection, we publish 128 of his flowers, gathering them loosely, like a magnificent
Valentine’s bouquet, into a portfolio.

Don Rakow at Green Cay with Redouté

Donald Rakow, the executive director of Cornell Plantations,
wrote one of the introductory essays that accompany the portfolio. When Don
told us he was coming to Florida to speak at the Green Cay Nature Center just a few miles from Levenger, we welcomed
the chance for another conversation.

On a gloriously warm and sunny January day, Don and Mim Harrison, the editor
of Levenger Press, sat on a bench overlooking the preserve and talked about the
everlasting love of a Redouté rose.

Levenger Press: At Levenger we refer to
Redouté as the Audubon of botanical art, since Audubon was not only a
contemporary but also an admirer. As a scientist, do you find that Redouté was
as rigorous as Audubon in terms of accurate portrayals?

Donald Rakow: There are three qualities
that both Redouté and Audubon exhibited that unite them. The first is that they
were both absolutely dedicated to anatomical accuracy. Up until this point,
objects in nature were not accurately portrayed. Before Gutenberg ushered in
the era of multiple copies of the same page, one monk would copy a drawing of a
flower specimen, another would copy the first monk’s drawing, and so on—much
like that telephone game where the message the last player hears barely
resembles the message the first player sent.

Also,
throughout much of the Middle Ages it was considered sacrilegious to accurately
portray one of God’s objects. The botanical artists of the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries reversed this. Artists like Redouté were committed to
dissecting flowers, understanding their parts, then reconstructing them on
canvas.

LP: So
anatomical accuracy was the first quality Redouté and Audubon shared. What was
the second?

Don: They were
enamored of their subjects and dedicated to depicting them in artistically
beautiful ways. Audubon would place a bird in a tree, even though he would be
working with a stuffed specimen. Redouté would often combine different flowers
in one illustration.

LP: They were,
in fact, equally artist and scientist.

Don: Yes, and
maybe a bit of alchemist as well. Because the third quality that united them is
the most inscrutable component of all: each was able to animate his subjects so
that they looked fully alive. Light, color, texture—they used all these to
bring the animus to the drawing. Redouté
would place dew drops on a petal, or have a butterfly alighting on the flower.
Subtle elements like these were part of their magic.

LP: As a botanist,
what do you find the most striking about the Redouté prints?

Don: They look so
contemporary. They don’t look like period illustrations. There is a true
universality to his work.

LP: Even with the
growth of photography, Redouté’s illustrations never seem to have lost their
appeal—or value. Why do you think this is?

Don: Redouté’s pieces are so artistically beautiful that no
photographer or engraver has ever been able to re-create them. Even today, in
an age of computer graphics, we still value Leonardo’s hand drawings. There is
an intellectual brilliance to art like this.

LP:
Do
botanists still hand-draw?

Don: Yes. There is an American Society of Botanical Illustrators,
which recently held its national meetings at Cornell. The members are hired to
illustrate scientific texts and journals. They also exhibit their work as art.

LP:
Why
would there still be a demand for hand-drawn illustrations?

Don: In a photograph, you’re capturing an instant. An illustration
can capture the essence of that flower or fruit over the course of its life. It
can show that flower in all its stages—as a bud, in full flower, in its post-flowering state.

LP:
You
mentioned fruit, and Redouté painted some beautiful fruits. Why is he known more
for his flowers?

Don:
I
think we as humans are more interested in looking at flowers than fruits. Many
fruits are rather similar looking. Flowers are complex, and phenomenally
varied—in their petals, their pistils, their stamens. And there is a sexual
nature to flowers.

LP:
How
about the rose, which Redouté is so famous for: what is its enduring appeal?

Don: In part it’s
the rose’s role in Victorian society, and the language the Victorians assigned
to it. Many flowers were the Victorian equivalent of an emoticon. The small
bouquet known as a tussy-mussy that Victorians would often give would basically
tell the recipient a story, based on what flowers had been gathered. The rose
always held particular meaning, with different colors signifying different
emotions. A red rose signaled deep passion; a pink, less so, but still
affection. A burgundy rose spoke of unconscious beauty. A lavender rose was a
declaration of love at first sight.

LP:
So
Robert Burns’s famous line of “My love is like a red, red rose” is fraught with
passion.

Don:
It
speaks to how easily we can anthropomorphize flowers because of our deep
affection for and connection to them. Consider the number of women’s names that
are based on flowers. Besides Rose, there’s Daisy, Tulip, Iris, Lily and, of
course, Blossom.

Now to you, dear reader: We’ve found that many of our customers have had a
passion for the flowers of Redouté. Are there other artists whose works draw
you irresistibly? I’d love to hear. Just click on the Comments link
below with your submission. (If you’re reading this as an email, click here and you'll connect to
Comments). And Happy Valentine’s Day!

Comments

The Redoute paintings are simply magnificent whether for the beauty of the flowers themselves or the artistry. And to discover they are watercolors, hardly the easiest medium to control. They are an education in aesthetics and painting technique.

Two other artists come to mind whose works have a similar effect. The first is Robert Bateman and his wildlife paintings, which capture both the accuracy and context of his subjects. The other is Monet with his Givenchy garden paintings. Obviously not for their accurate portrayal but for the ever-changing play of light in nature.

One can get lost in admiring these works and the study of these artists.

Thanks so much for sharing your artist ideas--you reminded us that few gardens can compare with Monet's. We weren't familiar with Robert Bateman, so many thanks for introducing us to him and his marvelous wildlife portraits.

I would love to see a collection of works by Maria Sibylla Merian and Louis van Houtte. Also Ernst Haeckel. It would be wonderful to be able to order collections of the complete works of any of the classic nature artists. I am excited to order your Redoute collection.